Minho sat in his car looking out the window, it was dark outside a full moon and some stars were visible. He was smiling as he thought of the events of the night before. It's been three days since he met Chan and Hyunjin and yesterday they invited him for drinks very late into the night which was great for him, he had snuck out of his shared apartment with his manager and task team, and took a taxi to the whole-in-wall bar and grill.

-

It was very empty which Minho loved, he didn't want to risk getting recognised.They talked, grilled meat and drank until Minho had to go,  which was after an hour and 30 minutes, Hyunjin and Chan complained and grumbled.

 

“The night just got started love! We were going to karaoke after!”

 

“Yeah, how can you leave us so early?” Hyunjin asked with a pout and Minho was sure he was already getting tipsy. A tipsy Hyunjin was cuddly, pouty and simply all over the place. He draped himself over Minho telling him to stay while running his hands through Minho’s hair. Truth is Minho wanted to stay, the pouty boy on his lap and Chan pouring him another drink and continuing to grill while sending him a warm smiles were very convincing. But he had to be up by 5am today and it was already 2am, and he considered getting up at 5 lucky since he's had to get up at 3am on many occasions.

 

“I know, I'm sorry but I have to. I promise we'll meet up when I have time again"

 

-

 

He was pulled away from his thoughts when his manager spoke up.

 

“Hey, you never did tell me what you did all those hours after you ran away from the fans and didn't answer my calls at the amusement park.” Kai said while glancing at Minho through the rearview mirror.

 

“Oh Kai you're not gonna believe this! I went in my first official date!”

 

“What do you mean? You've been on tons of dates with fans on variety shows. They eat that up.”

 

“Hey, don't talk about my fans like that.” Kai mumbled out a quick sorry and let Minho continue and explain himself.

 

“.... And so we even bought matching hoodies and exchanged numbers by the end of the night and now we text every Day! Isn't it great Hyung?”

 

The car came to a sudden halt and parked, making Minho forward in seat at the abrupt stop.

 

“You exchanged Numbers with them?”

 

“Yeah I just said that… why do you sound mad?”

 

“Minho what if those guys are from the media huh?!! What if they're trying to write a story on you?!!”

 

“What? No! They didn't even know me hy-"

 

“This is a Scandal waiting to happen! The company doesn't want any scandals! I want you to delete their numbers!”

 

“ no!! What is wrong with you? I thought you'd be happy for Me!”

 

“Minho I am protecting you! You've seen what scandals have been doing to other idols lately. Do you want that?!”

 

“ the company! all this ! I love my job, but I want to have a normal life too and God damn it I'll have both!” Minho got out the car and slammed the door shut, he started walking away when his manager came after him grabbing his arm.

 

“This is no time to be a child Minho. Get. Back. In. The. Car.”

 

“Actually I never even got the chance to act like a child, I put my life into this! So you know what, if making my own decisions is acting like a child then I'm the biggest ing kid there is!” He yanked his arm away ran, hailing the nearest taxi. He ordered the taxi to take him to the nearest hotel, he asked for a room upon arrival making sure to keep a polite smile in case someone recognized him. Soon enough the woman at the front desk returned.

 

“Sir, luckily there is a room available for you. Here are your keys… also, you're Lee Know right?” the woman said with hope in her voice and Minho could already see her trying to contain her excitement.

 

“Yeah, that's me” he said with a chuckle. The woman picked up her phone and stumbled upon her words asking for a picture. He politely declined and told her that if she's here later then he will take a picture which seemed to satisfy her.

 

He went into his room and threw himself face first on the bed. He was exhausted, from the long day at work and from arguing with Kai. He didn't expect it, Kai was always the one who supported him ever since he was young. If Minho wanted to play in the arcade, he'd let him, if he wanted to go to karaoke he'd join him. When it came to the idea of dating he always supported him and told him to go for it, so the whole ordeal was confusing to Minho.

 

Minho screamed into the pillow and cried, days like these were when it got hard. He picked up his phone and let his finger hover over the contact name, he doesn't think they'll be up but he just wants to hear them. Finally he presses the call, it rings for a while until a slurred sleepy Australian accent breaks through the line.

 

-

 

Chan is a light sleeper, it's hard for him to even get sleep so when his phone rings at 1am he's easily stirred from his sleep and picks it. Looking at the contact name he swipes right.

 

“Minho… you alright love? It's late.”

 

“Yeah, I've... I've just had long day”

Chan gently untangled himself I'm from Hyunjin’s arms and heading to the living room so he didn't wake Hyunjin up. “Wanna talk about it?” he asked Minho.

 

“No No, I just… needed a distraction I guess”

 

Chan hummed in acknowledgement, flopping down onto the couch, he wondered why Minho sounded like he had been crying, he thought of the boys face and became upset at the thought of anyone hurting him. Quickly letting the thoughts go he put his focused on the younger boy.

 

“ Wanna hear a bedtime story?”

 

“Pft, why not” Minho answered with a chuckle.

 

“This story is called the boy and the purple cow”

 

Minho listened to the man's Australian accent, letting his voice lull him to sleep. His last thought was how he could get used to this. Chan finished his story with “So the moral of this story is to always look both ways before you cross the street” and waited to hear the usual laughter and to be told how ridiculous the story is but instead he heard Minho's soft breaths indicating he had fallen asleep. He smiled to himself, groaning as he got off the couch and firefly saddled back to bed. Laying down gently next to Hyunjin and placing a kiss to his temple, Hyunjin turned around eyes still closed and groggily asked “Is Minho okay? Heard you say his name and take a phone call…” Chan told him everything is fine and that they should get back to sleep and wrapped his arms around the boy.

 

-

 

Minho wakes up, his body feels lighter than yesterday and he smiles as he remembers the dumb story Chan told him before he fell asleep. He gets up making his way to the bathroom and taking a quick shower, getting ready to check out and go to all his schedules for the day. Taking the elevator down to the lobby, he didn't expect to be met with thousand of flashes as soon as the doors opened. Ignoring the confusion as to how they knew he was here he quickly made his way to the desk and checked out, he pulled out his phone to call an Uber but before he got to it an arm wrapped around his body and led him through the masses of paparazzi and fans. He looked up and saw Kai looking like a knight in shining armor to him right now and let himself be led. Soon enough he was inside the familiar van, Kai walking around to the drivers seat and driving away. Ask are silence and tension settled over them when finally Kai spoke up.

 

“Minho, I'm sorry… I- you know I always support you. But I also can't help but worry.” he kept glancing at Minho through the rearview mirror. The boy remained quiet, and muttered an ‘I know.’ Kai sighed and continued speaking.

 

“I shouldn't have called you childish, I apologize for that too. I'm going to support you no matter what you do, I'm your manager but also your friend. So how about we start over, tell me about your date?”

 

Minho smiled and leaned toward, his eyes twinkling with joy making Kai smile too. As Minho told Kai everything is couldn't help but wonder when's the next time he'll be free, he wanted nothing more than to spend time with the two boys who keep running through his mind.

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Yes hi it's been 84 years I know, and if you're one of the few readers I'm sorry :((((. Life and writers block can be a . But I'm gon a try to crank out some at least 4 chapters this week. Hope you enjoyed reading and as always feedback is always appreciated.